By COLE REIF Great Bend Post

With a record of 26-9, and nine regular season games remaining plus the
playoffs, the Great Bend Bat Cats were on pace to potentially break their franchise
record of 33 wins that was set last year. That feat will be harder to
accomplish after the organization decided Monday to not play the remainder of
their league season. 

While playing in Derby Sunday, many of the players’
vehicles, parked at Al Burns Memorial Field in Great Bend, were severely
damaged or totaled from the severe storm that passed through Barton County. Bat
Cats General Manager Roger Ward said the team decided the players should go home
to get matters resolved. "This is a good club, a good group of guys and the coaching staff is doing great," said Ward. "You'd like to see that continue, but when real life things happen there is no way we can make these guys stick around and play baseball. They need support from their family." 
While the decision was made to not play the final seven Jayhawk Collegiate
League games, Ward said the plan is to have the majority of the team return for
two home games next Wednesday, July 26 and Thursday, July 27 before the Bat Cats hit the
playoffs. "We've never had trouble of picking up guys to fill out the roster when it came down to postseason," said Ward. "We're going to finish strong. We're going to be a good team. We're still hopeful of getting a couple of home games for the community before postseason." 
By winning the first half the Jayhawk League, Great Bend already qualified for
the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series in Wichita which starts Aug. 3. 
Ward said the infield at Al Burns Field received a beating from Sunday’s hail
storm and a portion of the outfield fence is leaning.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679946701855.jpeg" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>By COLE REIF Great Bend PostWith a record of 26-9, and nine regular season games remaining plus the
playoffs, the Great Bend Bat Cats were on pace to potentially break their franchise
record of 33 wins that was set last year. That feat will be harder to
accomplish after the organization decided Monday to not play the remainder of
their league season. While playing in Derby Sunday, many of the players’
vehicles, parked at Al Burns Memorial Field in Great Bend, were severely
damaged or totaled from the severe storm that passed through Barton County. Bat
Cats General Manager Roger Ward said the team decided the players should go home
to get matters resolved. "This is a good club, a good group of guys and the coaching staff is doing great," said Ward. "You'd like to see that continue, but when real life things happen there is no way we can make these guys stick around and play baseball. They need support from their family." 
While the decision was made to not play the final seven Jayhawk Collegiate
League games, Ward said the plan is to have the majority of the team return for
two home games next Wednesday, July 26 and Thursday, July 27 before the Bat Cats hit the
playoffs. "We've never had trouble of picking up guys to fill out the roster when it came down to postseason," said Ward. "We're going to finish strong. We're going to be a good team. We're still hopeful of getting a couple of home games for the community before postseason." 
By winning the first half the Jayhawk League, Great Bend already qualified for
the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series in Wichita which starts Aug. 3. 
Ward said the infield at Al Burns Field received a beating from Sunday’s hail
storm and a portion of the outfield fence is leaning.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

GB Bat Cats shutting down but intend on playoff return

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Matt Vierling capped a three-run eighth inning with a two-run double that lifted the Detroit Tigers over Kansas City 3-2 on Monday night and sent the Royals to their ninth loss in 11 games.

Taylor Clarke (1-4) gave up Akil Baddoo’s leadoff double, hit Riley Greene with a pitch with two outs and walked Spencer Torkelson.

“There was a lot of good in the last third of the game, offensively,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “There was a lot of good in the pitching department and our outfield defense was sensational.”

José Cuas relieved and walked Kerry Carpenter on four pitches, forcing in a run and ending Detroit’s 20-inning scoreless streak. Vierling sliced a sinker to the opposite field in right.

”The first couple of games in Seattle I hit the ball hard, had good at-bats,” Vierling said. “Talking to our hitting coaches about it, my process was good, swinging at the right pitches, so I knew something would happen at some point. Luckily it happened at that time.”

“I almost feel like we stole that win,” Vierling said. “That’s huge for us. Being able to win as many as we can, especially like that, I think it gives us a lot of confidence late in games.”

Brendan White (2-2) entered with two on and one out in the seventh and retired pinch-hitter Matt Duffy on a flyout and struck out Nicky Lopez.

Kansas City-area native Alex Lange struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 15th save in 18 chances.

“He’s very trustworthy,” Hinch said. “We’re going to give him the ball in important outings.”

Kansas City dropped to 27-68, last in the AL Central.

MJ Melendez, Freddy Fermin and Nick Pratto had consecutive singles in the fourth, the latter two driving in runs. Fermin had three of the Royals' six hits.

“He’s been swinging the bat well for the most part,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

Royals starter Jordan Lyles allowed three hits in six shutout innings.

“He had a really good changeup,” Quatraro said. “That was the best one of the year. Really flooded the zone, made them make decisions and the defense made plays behind him.”

Detroit’s Matt Manning gave up two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings.

“I think I had really good command of all my pitches," Manning said. “I executed. I got ahead of guys, and that’s when I’m most effective.”

RHP Zack Greinke, placed on the 15-day IL on July 5 with right shoulder tendinitis, threw a bullpen session Sunday and is expected to return to the mound against the Tigers. “Everything was good yesterday,” Quatraro said. “We’re on track for him to make a start Thursday.”

Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal (0-0, 0.00) makes his third start of the season Tuesday, opposing Royals LHP Daniel Lynch (2-4, 4.18).

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Matt Vierling capped a three-run eighth inning with a two-run double that lifted the Detroit Tigers over Kansas City 3-2 on Monday night and sent the Royals to their ninth loss in 11 games.Taylor Clarke (1-4) gave up Akil Baddoo’s leadoff double, hit Riley Greene with a pitch with two outs and walked Spencer Torkelson.“There was a lot of good in the last third of the game, offensively,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “There was a lot of good in the pitching department and our outfield defense was sensational.”José Cuas relieved and walked Kerry Carpenter on four pitches, forcing in a run and ending Detroit’s 20-inning scoreless streak. Vierling sliced a sinker to the opposite field in right.”The first couple of games in Seattle I hit the ball hard, had good at-bats,” Vierling said. “Talking to our hitting coaches about it, my process was good, swinging at the right pitches, so I knew something would happen at some point. Luckily it happened at that time.”His hit stopped an 0-for-14 slide.“I almost feel like we stole that win,” Vierling said. “That’s huge for us. Being able to win as many as we can, especially like that, I think it gives us a lot of confidence late in games.”Brendan White (2-2) entered with two on and one out in the seventh and retired pinch-hitter Matt Duffy on a flyout and struck out Nicky Lopez.Kansas City-area native Alex Lange struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 15th save in 18 chances.“He’s very trustworthy,” Hinch said. “We’re going to give him the ball in important outings.”Kansas City dropped to 27-68, last in the AL Central.MJ Melendez, Freddy Fermin and Nick Pratto had consecutive singles in the fourth, the latter two driving in runs. Fermin had three of the Royals' six hits.“He’s been swinging the bat well for the most part,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.Royals starter Jordan Lyles allowed three hits in six shutout innings.“He had a really good changeup,” Quatraro said. “That was the best one of the year. Really flooded the zone, made them make decisions and the defense made plays behind him.”Detroit’s Matt Manning gave up two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings.“I think I had really good command of all my pitches," Manning said. “I executed. I got ahead of guys, and that’s when I’m most effective.”TRAINER’S ROOMRHP Zack Greinke, placed on the 15-day IL on July 5 with right shoulder tendinitis, threw a bullpen session Sunday and is expected to return to the mound against the Tigers. “Everything was good yesterday,” Quatraro said. “We’re on track for him to make a start Thursday.”UP NEXTTigers LHP Tarik Skubal (0-0, 0.00) makes his third start of the season Tuesday, opposing Royals LHP Daniel Lynch (2-4, 4.18).

Vierling’s 2-run double lifts Tigers to 3-2 win, Royals' 9th loss in 11 games

By STEVE WEBSTER Great Bend Post While the Great Bend Bat Cats were taking on the Derby Twins Sunday evening in Derby, a super-cell thunderstorm was ravaging the city of Great Bend. As a result, the Bat Cats have announced that the team is postponing the rest of the regular season.&nbsp; General Manager Roger Ward announced the decision Monday afternoon on Facebook

"The Bat Cats
organization hopes that everyone is safe and getting through whatever
obstacles you may be facing. Our thoughts are with you.

While we are a
minuscule part of the recent destructive storm, we are facing our own
challenges. The main concern we have is the players that we have in
our community from all over. Most of their vehicles are wiped out,
and many families they are staying with are still without power. As a
result, many are going home at the wishes of their families to try
and get matters resolved.

We would like to
thank the folks who came to the parking lot to cover up windows
busted out and hopefully eliminate any further interior damage to the
vehicles. There are good people out there, but especially in our
area!

It will take time to
get the field/facility playable as well. We are hopeful that players
will come back and play a few games at home prior to postseason. This
is a big hit to what we work for year around and are having a great
season…..we just hope that we can somehow finish."

The Bat Cats had been enjoying the most successful season in franchise history. Despite losing Sunday night to Derby 10-4, Great Bend had posted a 26-9 record overall and had won the Jayhawk Collegiate League first half title which automatically qualified them to play in the NBC World Series in Wichita in early August.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689630755712.jpeg" alt="The Great Bend Bat Cats conference season is over." />
 <figcaption>The Great Bend Bat Cats conference season is over.</figcaption>
 </figure>By STEVE WEBSTER Great Bend Post While the Great Bend Bat Cats were taking on the Derby Twins Sunday evening in Derby, a super-cell thunderstorm was ravaging the city of Great Bend. As a result, the Bat Cats have announced that the team is postponing the rest of the regular season.&nbsp; General Manager Roger Ward announced the decision Monday afternoon on Facebook"The Bat Cats
organization hopes that everyone is safe and getting through whatever
obstacles you may be facing. Our thoughts are with you. 
While we are a
minuscule part of the recent destructive storm, we are facing our own
challenges. The main concern we have is the players that we have in
our community from all over. Most of their vehicles are wiped out,
and many families they are staying with are still without power. As a
result, many are going home at the wishes of their families to try
and get matters resolved.We would like to
thank the folks who came to the parking lot to cover up windows
busted out and hopefully eliminate any further interior damage to the
vehicles. There are good people out there, but especially in our
area!It will take time to
get the field/facility playable as well. We are hopeful that players
will come back and play a few games at home prior to postseason. This
is a big hit to what we work for year around and are having a great
season…..we just hope that we can somehow finish."The Bat Cats had been enjoying the most successful season in franchise history. Despite losing Sunday night to Derby 10-4, Great Bend had posted a 26-9 record overall and had won the Jayhawk Collegiate League first half title which automatically qualified them to play in the NBC World Series in Wichita in early August.&nbsp;

Great Bend Bat Cats regular season comes to an abrupt halt

Bombers Baseball 16U wrapped up their season playing in the Midwest Premier Super 16U at Creekside Sports complex in Parkville, MO.  The team went 1-1-1 on the weekend and had the tournament cut short due to weather. 

 This tournament featured some of the top teams in the region.  57 total teams traveled in from Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and Oklahoma. 

 Teams had to finish in the top 12 to advance to the championship bracket.  Bombers finished in the middle of the pack for the standings. 

 Coach Chris Umphres stated, "Bombers represented central Kansas very well at this tournament.  Every team we played made a comment that our small towns should not be able to compete with some of these big organizations around the county.  We even beat the Indiana Bulls team that produced the number 1 high school draft pick this year in Max Clark.  And lost to the number 1 seed in the whole tournament with a 9-3 score.  These boys played in front of multiple coach recruiters this weekend and they were able to compete at a high level.  I look forward to these players' futures in baseball or anything else they decide to do." 

 The Bombers finished the season with a 21-10-3 record.  Hitters finished with a .305 team batting average, .419 on base percentage, and a .412 slugging.  Pitchers finished the season with 207 innings, 160 strikeouts, 127 walks, 119 earned runs and 4.0 team ERA.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689609867251.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Bombers Baseball 16U wrapped up their season playing in the Midwest Premier Super 16U at Creekside Sports complex in Parkville, MO. The team went 1-1-1 on the weekend and had the tournament cut short due to weather. This tournament featured some of the top teams in the region. 57 total teams traveled in from Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and Oklahoma. Teams had to finish in the top 12 to advance to the championship bracket. Bombers finished in the middle of the pack for the standings. Coach Chris Umphres stated, "Bombers represented central Kansas very well at this tournament. Every team we played made a comment that our small towns should not be able to compete with some of these big organizations around the county. We even beat the Indiana Bulls team that produced the number 1 high school draft pick this year in Max Clark. And lost to the number 1 seed in the whole tournament with a 9-3 score. These boys played in front of multiple coach recruiters this weekend and they were able to compete at a high level. I look forward to these players' futures in baseball or anything else they decide to do." The Bombers finished the season with a 21-10-3 record. Hitters finished with a .305 team batting average, .419 on base percentage, and a .412 slugging. Pitchers finished the season with 207 innings, 160 strikeouts, 127 walks, 119 earned runs and 4.0 team ERA.

Bombers Baseball wraps up season in Missouri

The 2023 Shrine Bowl brought memorable moments to many, all for a good cause. Take a look at the game, parade and pep rally below.

By James BellHays PostThe 2023 Shrine Bowl brought memorable moments to many, all for a good cause. Take a look at the game, parade and pep rally below.<figure>
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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689479262541.jpeg" alt="Shrine Bowl 2023. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post" />
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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689479272679.jpeg" alt="Shrine Bowl 2023. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post" />
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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689479281981.jpeg" alt="Shrine Bowl 2023. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Shrine Bowl 2023. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post</figcaption>
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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689479294499.jpeg" alt="Shrine Bowl 2023. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post" />
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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689479304387.jpeg" alt="Shrine Bowl 2023. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Shrine Bowl 2023. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post</figcaption>
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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689479313964.jpeg" alt="Shrine Bowl 2023. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post" />
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📷 Capturing the spirit: A look at the 2023 Shrine Bowl

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - The Big 12 has extended its agreement through the 2030 season to continue to host the Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship at AT&amp;T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Widely considered to be one of the premier venues across the globe, AT&amp;T Stadium has hosted the last eight Big 12 Conference title games.

This partnership continuation will see a variety of Championship enhancements introduced, including a reimagined halftime show, an increase in premium seating, a larger focus on sponsorship activation, expanded merchandise presence in the team store and throughout the venue, and much more.

“The Big 12 is thrilled to announce our Football Championship will be staying at AT&amp;T Stadium through 2030,” said Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark. “The Big 12 and AT&amp;T Stadium both call the Metroplex home – through this extension, we will host our Football Championship at a world-class venue in our own backyard. We are grateful for the support and partnership of the Dallas Cowboys organization.”

“We have enjoyed an incredible relationship with the Big 12 Conference, and are honored to continue hosting the Big 12 Championship Game at AT&amp;T Stadium,” said Dallas Cowboys Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones. “The games, fans and atmosphere have been incredible, and we’re thrilled to continue the tradition of having the best teams in the Big 12 earn the right to play for the title in Arlington.”

The 2022 Big 12 Football Championship, held at AT&amp;T Stadium, had the second-highest attendance of all conference title games with 69,335 spectators as No. 10 K-State defeated No. 3 TCU, 31-28 in OT.  Additionally, the 2022 Football Championship game delivered 9.4M viewers on ABC, the most watched Big 12 Championship since 2018. Ratings were up 15% from 2021, peaking at 12.7M viewers, the most of any conference championship across all networks.

Off the field, the 2022 Big 12 Football Championship debuted a variety of new in-game entertainment, broadcast and marketing enhancements, Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum singer, songwriter and actress Ashanti performed the National Anthem. Unified World Welterweight Boxing Champion Errol Spence Jr. led the ceremonial coin toss while media personality Rachel DeMita served as the in-game host. Additionally, DJ Poizon Ivy provided in-game music. The Big 12 also partnered with streetwear fashion brand A Bathing Ape (BAPE) to introduce on-field co-branded Big 12 x BAPE marks.

AT&amp;T Stadium opened in 2009 and hosted both the 2009 and 2010 Big 12 Championship games. After a six-year absence, the contest was reinstated in 2017. Tickets to the 2023 Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship will go on sale on August 12.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689588844773.jpeg" alt="Big 12 Sports" />
 <figcaption>Big 12 Sports</figcaption>
 </figure>ARLINGTON, TEXAS - The Big 12 has extended its agreement through the 2030 season to continue to host the Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship at AT&amp;T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Widely considered to be one of the premier venues across the globe, AT&amp;T Stadium has hosted the last eight Big 12 Conference title games.This partnership continuation will see a variety of Championship enhancements introduced, including a reimagined halftime show, an increase in premium seating, a larger focus on sponsorship activation, expanded merchandise presence in the team store and throughout the venue, and much more.“The Big 12 is thrilled to announce our Football Championship will be staying at AT&amp;T Stadium through 2030,” said Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark. “The Big 12 and AT&amp;T Stadium both call the Metroplex home – through this extension, we will host our Football Championship at a world-class venue in our own backyard. We are grateful for the support and partnership of the Dallas Cowboys organization.”“We have enjoyed an incredible relationship with the Big 12 Conference, and are honored to continue hosting the Big 12 Championship Game at AT&amp;T Stadium,” said Dallas Cowboys Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones. “The games, fans and atmosphere have been incredible, and we’re thrilled to continue the tradition of having the best teams in the Big 12 earn the right to play for the title in Arlington.”The 2022 Big 12 Football Championship, held at AT&amp;T Stadium, had the second-highest attendance of all conference title games with 69,335 spectators as No. 10 K-State defeated No. 3 TCU, 31-28 in OT. Additionally, the 2022 Football Championship game delivered 9.4M viewers on ABC, the most watched Big 12 Championship since 2018. Ratings were up 15% from 2021, peaking at 12.7M viewers, the most of any conference championship across all networks.Off the field, the 2022 Big 12 Football Championship debuted a variety of new in-game entertainment, broadcast and marketing enhancements, Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum singer, songwriter and actress Ashanti performed the National Anthem. Unified World Welterweight Boxing Champion Errol Spence Jr. led the ceremonial coin toss while media personality Rachel DeMita served as the in-game host. Additionally, DJ Poizon Ivy provided in-game music. The Big 12 also partnered with streetwear fashion brand A Bathing Ape (BAPE) to introduce on-field co-branded Big 12 x BAPE marks.AT&amp;T Stadium opened in 2009 and hosted both the 2009 and 2010 Big 12 Championship games. After a six-year absence, the contest was reinstated in 2017. Tickets to the 2023 Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship will go on sale on August 12.

Big 12 Conference and AT&T Stadium Extend Agreement Through 2030

2nd Half Standings (League Record only) Kansas Cannons 7-1&nbsp; -&nbsp; Great Bend Bat Cats 6-4&nbsp; 2.0&nbsp; Hutchinson Monarchs 4-3&nbsp; 2.5&nbsp; Haysville Aviators 4-4&nbsp; 3.0 Derby Twins 4-5&nbsp; 3.5 &nbsp; Kingman Islanders 3-6&nbsp; 4.5 Newton Slugging Rebels 1-6&nbsp;&nbsp;5.5 Saturday Schedule Great Bend 6, Derby 3 Haysville 11 Hutchinson 1 Kingman 10, Newton 2 Sunday Schedule Derby 10, Great Bend 4 Hutchinson 11, Haysville 5 Kingman 5, Newton 0 Monday Schedule Derby @ Great Bend 7pm Newton @ Kingman 7pm Hutchinson @ Haysville 7pm

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688644906611.png" alt="July 6 Standings" />
 <figcaption>July 6 Standings</figcaption>
 </figure>2nd Half Standings (League Record only) Kansas Cannons 7-1&nbsp; -&nbsp; Great Bend Bat Cats 6-4&nbsp; 2.0&nbsp; Hutchinson Monarchs 4-3&nbsp; 2.5&nbsp; Haysville Aviators 4-4&nbsp; 3.0 Derby Twins 4-5&nbsp; 3.5 &nbsp; Kingman Islanders 3-6&nbsp; 4.5 Newton Slugging Rebels 1-6&nbsp;&nbsp;5.5 Saturday Schedule Great Bend 6, Derby 3 Haysville 11 Hutchinson 1 Kingman 10, Newton 2 Sunday Schedule Derby 10, Great Bend 4 Hutchinson 11, Haysville 5 Kingman 5, Newton 0 Monday Schedule Derby @ Great Bend 7pm Newton @ Kingman 7pm Hutchinson @ Haysville 7pm

⚾ Jayhawk Collegiate League Standings and Scores

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. homered and tripled with three RBIs, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 on Sunday for their second win in 10 games.

Witt and Drew Waters became the first Royals teammates to each triple and homer in the same game. In a game that sped by in 1 hour, 54 minutes, Brady Singer (6-8) won for the second time in seven starts since June 4.

“The slider was really good, had some good swing-and-miss on it, and on the changeup, too, when I needed it,” Singer said,

He needed 70 pitches through seven innings and led 7-0 before Isaac Paredes hit a solo homer and Francisco Mejía hit a three-run drive for the AL-best Rays (60-36).

“When you have a sinker that’s working like that and they put the ball on ground early, it provides a lot of confidence for him to be able to work quickly and be able to move through the game efficiently.” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

Singer allowed four runs and seven hits in a season-high eight innings as Kansas City improved to 27-67, the second-worst record in the major leagues and ahead of only Oakland.

“That’s vintage sinkerballer,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “You’re relying on the late movement to get the ball on the ground and that’s what happened. He just had some extra movement on it today that made it a little challenging for us.”

The early lead gave Singer confidence to attack hitters.

“It set me up to be able to stay in the zone more," he said. "I was definitely more aggressive with that lead. I was staying in the zone so much. Throwing so many strikes was helping me to get them to swing early.”

Zach Eflin (10-5) gave up a season-high five runs and seven hits over a season-low three innings, allowing hits to seven of his first 11 batters. The Rays had won three straight after a season-worst seven-game losing streak.

“I had a pretty bad bullpen going into the game,” Eflin said. “I didn’t feel like I was in sync. The sinker wasn’t working. I couldn’t figure out where the ball was going. I knew something was off going into the game. I didn’t set the tone like I should have.”

In a game that started one hour later because of rain, Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez left in the second inning after feeling left hamstring discomfort while scoring on Melendez’s double.

MJ Melendez hit a two-out RBI double in the first and the Royals opened a 5-0 lead in the second. Waters hit an RBI triple and scored on Nick Pratto’s single. Witt, who has an extra-base hit in six straight games, hit a two-run, two-out triple.

“Seeing the guys before me put together good at-bats gives you confidence,” Witt said. “Just trying to simplify as much as possible and just trying to put a good swing on the ball.”

Waters led off the fourth against Yonny Chirinos with a 465-foot home run to the upper level of the right-field fountains.

Witt led off the fifth with his 16th homer and Melendez hit a solo homer in the eighth off Chirinos.

Royals RHP Collin Snider was optioned to Omaha and RHP Max Castillo was recalled from the Triple-A team.

Royals RHP Josh Staumont, placed on the 60-day IL on Saturday, is expected to have thoracic outlet syndrome surgery and miss the rest of the season.

Rays: LHP Shane McClanahan (11-1, 2.53) will return from a stint on the 15-day IL caused by a back injury to oppose Rangers RHP Dane Dunning (8-2, 2.84) in Texas on Monday.

Tigers: RHP Matt Manning (3-1, 3.72) takes on Royals RHP Jordan Lyles (1-11, 6.42) in Kansas City on Monday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. homered and tripled with three RBIs, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 on Sunday for their second win in 10 games.Witt and Drew Waters became the first Royals teammates to each triple and homer in the same game. In a game that sped by in 1 hour, 54 minutes, Brady Singer (6-8) won for the second time in seven starts since June 4.“The slider was really good, had some good swing-and-miss on it, and on the changeup, too, when I needed it,” Singer said,He needed 70 pitches through seven innings and led 7-0 before Isaac Paredes hit a solo homer and Francisco Mejía hit a three-run drive for the AL-best Rays (60-36).“When you have a sinker that’s working like that and they put the ball on ground early, it provides a lot of confidence for him to be able to work quickly and be able to move through the game efficiently.” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.Singer allowed four runs and seven hits in a season-high eight innings as Kansas City improved to 27-67, the second-worst record in the major leagues and ahead of only Oakland.“That’s vintage sinkerballer,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “You’re relying on the late movement to get the ball on the ground and that’s what happened. He just had some extra movement on it today that made it a little challenging for us.”The early lead gave Singer confidence to attack hitters.“It set me up to be able to stay in the zone more," he said. "I was definitely more aggressive with that lead. I was staying in the zone so much. Throwing so many strikes was helping me to get them to swing early.”Zach Eflin (10-5) gave up a season-high five runs and seven hits over a season-low three innings, allowing hits to seven of his first 11 batters. The Rays had won three straight after a season-worst seven-game losing streak.“I had a pretty bad bullpen going into the game,” Eflin said. “I didn’t feel like I was in sync. The sinker wasn’t working. I couldn’t figure out where the ball was going. I knew something was off going into the game. I didn’t set the tone like I should have.”In a game that started one hour later because of rain, Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez left in the second inning after feeling left hamstring discomfort while scoring on Melendez’s double.MJ Melendez hit a two-out RBI double in the first and the Royals opened a 5-0 lead in the second. Waters hit an RBI triple and scored on Nick Pratto’s single. Witt, who has an extra-base hit in six straight games, hit a two-run, two-out triple.“Seeing the guys before me put together good at-bats gives you confidence,” Witt said. “Just trying to simplify as much as possible and just trying to put a good swing on the ball.”Waters led off the fourth against Yonny Chirinos with a 465-foot home run to the upper level of the right-field fountains.Witt led off the fifth with his 16th homer and Melendez hit a solo homer in the eighth off Chirinos.TRANSACTIONSRoyals RHP Collin Snider was optioned to Omaha and RHP Max Castillo was recalled from the Triple-A team.TRAINER’S ROOMRoyals RHP Josh Staumont, placed on the 60-day IL on Saturday, is expected to have thoracic outlet syndrome surgery and miss the rest of the season.UP NEXTRays: LHP Shane McClanahan (11-1, 2.53) will return from a stint on the 15-day IL caused by a back injury to oppose Rangers RHP Dane Dunning (8-2, 2.84) in Texas on Monday.Tigers: RHP Matt Manning (3-1, 3.72) takes on Royals RHP Jordan Lyles (1-11, 6.42) in Kansas City on Monday.

Royals beat Rays 8-4 in 1 hour, 54 minutes

KANSAS CITY, Mo.
(AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. homered and tripled with three RBIs, and the
Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 for their second win
in 10 games. In a game that sped by in 1 hour, 54 minutes, Brady
Singer won for the second time in seven starts since June 4. Singer
allowed four runs and seven hits in a season-high eight innings. He
needed 70 pitches through seven innings and led 7-0 before Isaac
Paredes hit a solo homer and Francisco Mejía hit a three-run drive.
Zach Eflin gave up a season-high five runs and seven hits.

ST. LOUIS (AP) —
Jack Flaherty won a fourth straight start for the first time in two
years, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Washington 8-4 to open the
second half by taking two of three from the Nationals. Paul
Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer and Nolan Gorman had three hits and
two RBIs for St. Louis. Flaherty allowed three runs, three hits and
three walks in six innings with seven strikeouts. He had not won four
starts in a row since an 8-0 stretch from April 7 to May 19, 2021.

DENVER (AP) —
Nolan Jones led off the 11th inning with a tying, two-run homer off
Nick Ramirez, Alan Trejo hit a game-ending drive off Ron Marinaccio
and the Colorado Rockies beat the Yankees 8-7 Sunday to take two of
three from New York. Colorado, a National League-worst 36-58,
overcame a 3-1 deficit when C.J. Cron hit an eighth-inning grand slam
off Clay Holmes, the first home run allowed by the right-hander this
season. New York tied the score in the ninth against Daniel Bard on
Gleyber Torres’ run-scoring infield single and Harrison Bader’s
sacrifice fly. Playing into the 11th for the first time this year,
the Yankees opened a 7-5 lead against Gavin Hollowell (1-0) on
run-scoring singles by Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Pereza, who was
recalled from the minors when Josh Donaldson was put on the injured
list Sunday because of a strained right calf. Jones hit a 450-foot
home run on a fastball and drove in Cron, the automatic runner. Trejo
hit his first homer in 128 plate appearances this season on a hanging
slider from Marinaccio (4-5), dropping New York to 5-7 in extra
innings.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.
(AP) — The Tennessee Titans hope they’ve filled their major need
at wide receiver with three-time All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre
Hopkins. A person familiar with the agreement said Sunday the Titans
have agreed on a two-year deal worth $26 million with incentives that
could push that to $32 million. The Titans had the advantage of being
the first NFL team Hopkins visited after his release by Arizona in
May. The person confirmed the agreement to The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity because Hopkins hasn't signed the contract.
Hopkins would immediately boost a receiving group for a team whose
head coach had more career NFL touchdown catches than anyone
currently on the roster.

HOYLAKE, England
(AP) — For an old course, Royal Liverpool offers a new finish.
Players began arriving Sunday for the British Open. Only 38 players
in the field were at Hoylake in 2014. And only nine players competed
at Royal Liverpool in 2006 and 2014. The big change is at the end.
The par-3 15th is now the longest par 5 in Open history. What used to
be No. 15 is now the par-3 17th, except it goes in the opposite
direction. Cameron Young did his best to take it all in after his
long flight. He was runner-up last year at St. Andrews.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1685007848023.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, Mo.
(AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. homered and tripled with three RBIs, and the
Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 for their second win
in 10 games. In a game that sped by in 1 hour, 54 minutes, Brady
Singer won for the second time in seven starts since June 4. Singer
allowed four runs and seven hits in a season-high eight innings. He
needed 70 pitches through seven innings and led 7-0 before Isaac
Paredes hit a solo homer and Francisco Mejía hit a three-run drive.
Zach Eflin gave up a season-high five runs and seven hits.ST. LOUIS (AP) —
Jack Flaherty won a fourth straight start for the first time in two
years, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Washington 8-4 to open the
second half by taking two of three from the Nationals. Paul
Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer and Nolan Gorman had three hits and
two RBIs for St. Louis. Flaherty allowed three runs, three hits and
three walks in six innings with seven strikeouts. He had not won four
starts in a row since an 8-0 stretch from April 7 to May 19, 2021.DENVER (AP) —
Nolan Jones led off the 11th inning with a tying, two-run homer off
Nick Ramirez, Alan Trejo hit a game-ending drive off Ron Marinaccio
and the Colorado Rockies beat the Yankees 8-7 Sunday to take two of
three from New York. Colorado, a National League-worst 36-58,
overcame a 3-1 deficit when C.J. Cron hit an eighth-inning grand slam
off Clay Holmes, the first home run allowed by the right-hander this
season. New York tied the score in the ninth against Daniel Bard on
Gleyber Torres’ run-scoring infield single and Harrison Bader’s
sacrifice fly. Playing into the 11th for the first time this year,
the Yankees opened a 7-5 lead against Gavin Hollowell (1-0) on
run-scoring singles by Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Pereza, who was
recalled from the minors when Josh Donaldson was put on the injured
list Sunday because of a strained right calf. Jones hit a 450-foot
home run on a fastball and drove in Cron, the automatic runner. Trejo
hit his first homer in 128 plate appearances this season on a hanging
slider from Marinaccio (4-5), dropping New York to 5-7 in extra
innings.NASHVILLE, Tenn.
(AP) — The Tennessee Titans hope they’ve filled their major need
at wide receiver with three-time All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre
Hopkins. A person familiar with the agreement said Sunday the Titans
have agreed on a two-year deal worth $26 million with incentives that
could push that to $32 million. The Titans had the advantage of being
the first NFL team Hopkins visited after his release by Arizona in
May. The person confirmed the agreement to The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity because Hopkins hasn't signed the contract.
Hopkins would immediately boost a receiving group for a team whose
head coach had more career NFL touchdown catches than anyone
currently on the roster.HOYLAKE, England
(AP) — For an old course, Royal Liverpool offers a new finish.
Players began arriving Sunday for the British Open. Only 38 players
in the field were at Hoylake in 2014. And only nine players competed
at Royal Liverpool in 2006 and 2014. The big change is at the end.
The par-3 15th is now the longest par 5 in Open history. What used to
be No. 15 is now the par-3 17th, except it goes in the opposite
direction. Cameron Young did his best to take it all in after his
long flight. He was runner-up last year at St. Andrews.SUNDAY SCORESINTERLEAGUEFinal	Baltimore	5	Miami	4	Final	Chicago White
Sox	8	Atlanta	1	Final	Toronto	7	Arizona	5	Final	Boston	11	Chicago
Cubs	5	Final	Colorado	8	N.Y.
Yankees	7	AMERICAN LEAGUEFinal	Kansas
City	8	Tampa Bay	4	Final	Texas	6	Cleveland	5	Final	Seattle	2	Detroit	0	Final	Minnesota	5	Oakland	4	Final	Houston	9	L.A.
Angels	8	NATIONAL LEAGUEFinal	San
Francisco	8	Pittsburgh	4	Final	Milwaukee	4	Cincinnati	3	Final	St.
Louis	8	Washington	4	Final	Philadelphia	7	San
Diego	6	Final	N.Y.
Mets	2	L.A. Dodgers	1

Monday Sports Headlines and Scores presented by Barton Community College

“Thank you, and appreciate everybody having here and coming out to AT&amp;T Stadium. First thing I'd like to do is thank Commissioner Yormark for his vision, for his leadership. He's done an absolutely phenomenal job bringing energy to the Big 12 and being there for us as coaches, with a lot of messages back and forth, and without his leadership we wouldn't be in the place that we are right now. Thank you so much, Commissioner Yormark, and your staff for doing a phenomenal job keeping the Big 12 right where it needs to be, and that's at the top of the Power 5 leagues. So thank you for that.

We're excited to be back. It's going into year five for me, and it's crazy to think how quickly this time has gone. And we have four student-athletes here with us, Cooper Beebe, Will Howard, Kobe Savage, and Daniel Green that kind of epitomize what our four- and five-year journey has been here at Kansas State. We're big believers in development and developing players, and I think you look at Cooper Beebe and you look at Will Howard, and that personifies what Kansas State football is, and that's a developmental program. We're excited to be back at AT&amp;T. We finished our season at the end of the regular season in the Big 12 Championship game here with a big win that probably gave us a little bit of cache as far as what we're doing is the right way, and our kids believe that what we are doing is the right way, and we're a playing led team, and our players are the reason why we got to AT&amp;T and had success last year.

But it's a new year, and we've been talking about that since we got back in mid-January, that you need to stay humble. You need to eat crumbs. You need to stay hungry. What you did yesterday is great, but it pales in comparison to what you can do today. I'm excited about the challenge that we have this year, but I know that our guys are going to learn from the experiences they had last year and continue to fight through the adversity that we know we're going to have. We've got a tremendous league. We're adding four schools. We get two of those schools on our docket this year, and then we lose two schools in OU and Texas at the end of the year. But our league is as strong as it's ever been, and I'm excited to get the competition started.”

Q. Coach, you mentioned the newcomers in this conference. You get one of them to open the league in UCF. What are your thoughts on the Knights, head coach Gus Malzahn, and having them in the conference?

“Excited. I've gotten to know Gus a little bit. Have a tremendous amount of respect for him and what he's done in our profession. I talked to him a little bit at our Big 12 days down in Arizona, and they're going to be a really good football team coming into Manhattan. We're glad we have them in Manhattan and not down in Orlando. It's a great program that has traditionally been a really good program, and I'm excited about Gus and UCF joining our league.”

Q. Winning the Big 12 Championship game last year and then seeing TCU win their playoff game, how would you describe the parity that's in the Big 12 as well as college football?

“Well, there's tremendous parity in the Big 12. You saw that last year with the amount of teams that either won one-score games or knocked people off, and every week you had to have your A game or you were going to get beat. I think that's what college football is starting to become, as well. Recruiting is never ending. The transfer portal is never ending. So there's so many players switching teams, so you're always going to have increased parity. Some of the guys that maybe weren't playing as much for you are on another team. Sometimes even in the same league. That always is going to increase competition. College football is really healthy, and I'm excited about the direction it's going, especially once we get to the 12-team playoff.”

Q. I sort of made a fool out of myself yesterday when I placed Deuce Vaughn at TCU. I misspoke. I actually meant Kendre Miller. You guys are losing production of Deuce Vaughn. Can you talk a little bit about how you replace a talent like that?

“Well, you don't replace Deuce Vaughn, and if you want to come here on Sundays, he's going to be playing here every Sunday, and he's going to be having a heck of an NFL career and I love the kid because of his passion for football. Him allowing me to be in his life, what a great, great young man, a great football player but a better person, a better family. We probably aren't going to be able to do that with one guy. We're excited about our running back room. Coach Brian Anderson does a great job with those guys. DJ Giddens, I think is a rising star. He played sparingly behind Deuce because you didn't want to take Deuce off the field very often, but when he did he was very productive and had a couple of good games for us. We went out and got Treshaun Ward who was really productive at Florida State. And we didn't get to see a bunch of Treshaun during spring ball because he was recovering from an injury. He's full go now. I'm excited to see what a number of those guys can do, but those are two guys, DJ Giddens and Treshaun Ward, that we were believe can split some of the load, carry some of the load that Deuce has. And those guys just need to be themselves. All of our running backs in that room just need to be themselves. They don't need to be Deuce. There's only one of those guys, and everybody saw that in college football the last three years.”

Q. Can you talk about Will Howard this year compared to where he was this time last year heading in?

“Confidence, belief. Those are the two things I think of when I think of Will Howard. He's had an incredible journey at Kansas State, and he's had some ups and downs. But he's always weathered the storm. He's always bet on himself and believed in himself. Most importantly, I would tell you as we come into fall camp, the whole football team believes in Will Howard. The whole football team knows that you can win a Big 12 Championship with Will Howard at quarterback. I've just marveled at how he attacks his craft. He's always watching film. He's always breaking things down, he's always being a servant leader, which is very unselfish. He is meeting with tight ends, meeting with running backs, and just sharing his knowledge of football. And then he continues to work on his physical traits. He's leaner this year. He's stronger. I know that he's worked on some mechanical things. I think this is the best we're going to see -- we're going to see Will Howard's best year this year without question, and I thought the last half of the season last year he was probably the most improved player in all of college football, at least in the Big 12.”

Q. The state of Iowa athletes are on a roll right now, your home state, with Ashley Joens winning the award yesterday, with Max [Duggan] winning the award yesterday, with Caitlin Clark doing what she's doing, and with yourself winning the championship last year. What is it about your upbringing and your grass-roots upbringing that paved the way for some of the success that you guys are having?

“I appreciate that. I'm very close to the state of Iowa. My folks still live in Waterloo. My brother lives in Cedar Falls. I look at my parents' upbringing: Hard work, perseverance, never making excuses. I see that. I followed Iowa women's basketball. Caitlin Clark was a blast to watch. Some of my best friends are at Dowling. We've tried to do a good job in the state of Iowa. Two of our best football players are from the state of Iowa, Brendan Mott who's why Iowa City, and Ben Senate who's from Waterloo. We have to continue to recruit all the Midwest for sure. We've got to win in the state of Kansas, but we've branched out into Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, so on, so forth, Oklahoma. But just something about those hardworking kids that have great parental support and great backgrounds of being multi-sport athletes that we're always looking for.”

Q. How important was it for you to sign that contract extension back in May, and what does that say about the future of wildcat football?

“Well, I'm indebted to Gene Taylor for giving me an opportunity at North Dakota State to be a head coach, and then - not trying to win the press conference - but believing in what people can do, and he hired me at Kansas State, and he hired all of us at Kansas State. I really enjoy Manhattan. I think it's a great community. I think it's a great college town for sure. I see the excitement that is going on in Manhattan right now, and I'm just telling you, who you work for is really, really important to me. It's really important to me, and I've got a great job, but I'm surrounded by really good assistants. I'm surrounded by a great support staff. I've got a locker room full of guys that believe in each other, believe in us as coaches, and then I've got an athletic director that has our back. That made that really simple for me to sign and say this is where I want to be.”

Q. You're obviously the defending Big 12 champion, so Kansas State is going to be a game that is circled on everyone's schedule. You're going to get everyone's best shot. How do you and your team approach going from being the hunters to the hunted?

“I'm kind of excited actually, but in this league, I think everybody circles every game. I just don't -- I've never bought into one game is more important than another, because if you do, what are you going to tell your players the next week, that this one is not quite as important? But yeah, to be the hunted, the fact that we're the defending Big 12 champs means nothing when you go into that game. I mean, still, you've got to perform. Fortunately we've had past experiences from my previous school that we had to win a championship and then come back and follow it up with another championship. It's always staying hungry, always staying humble, and making sure that the guys focus on the task at hand, and each week in this league, you're going to get beat every week if you don't have your A game and if you don't have great focus and you don't have great preparation because the coaching is so good in this league, the teams are so good in this league. 1 through 14, anybody can beat anybody, and I really believe that.”

Q. This year you guys went 66th in the transfer portal, just rankings of players coming in. Is that an effect of how great the roster is and building from within, or is it that there just weren't many needs to go out and get?

“Well, the transfer portal has benefitted K-State, and once again, if somebody has a better opportunity or wants to move back closer to home, I'm all for it. I think kids need the opportunity. You only get home years to play this great game, so I'm fine with how the transfer portal is. That being said, whether it's Kade Warner, whether it's Julius Brents, whether it's Josh Hayes, whether it's Adrian Martinez, we've had really good success in the transfer portal. In the same respect, we haven't lost that many marquee guys. We've lost some depth, which is never great, but that's why you recruit freshmen to play, because freshmen now have to play because of the transfer portal. It's just something about the culture of us wanting to make sure we find the right fit, and we're always going to be a developmental school, and I'm a big believer in the more third-, fourth-, fifth-year guys you have, the better chance you're going to have to be successful, and this year we have got, I think, nine sixth-year guys, and I'm losing track to the math, do we still have one or two more years of the COVID year. I lose track of it. But we've got nine six-year guys that a lot of times those six-year guys say, I'm going to go see what else it out there. I'm going to go try this because I've done everything I can at school X, I'm going to go to school Y. But some of our guys, some of them were offensive linemen, said no. We love what we're doing here. We love the team we have, the players, the staff, that they wanted to stay right at Kansas State. We just haven't had the huge influx of numbers, and I hope that continues.”

Q. Brett Yormark mentioned the idea of playing more games on Thursday and Friday. We know how much you guys like to get recruits at a game in Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Is that a concern they could be playing on the same night as you guys?

“It is, but if Brett says that's the best thing for us to do, we're going to do it, because he's our leader and there's a reason why we're doing it that way. We have one on Friday night this year at Oklahoma State, which I'm going to be excited about. There's always going to be something going on. There's so many things anymore that for people to do, whether it's a Thursday, a Friday or a Saturday that if you put a really good product out there, people are going to come watch you play. But no, I think the more people and more audiences we can touch, and if that's a Thursday, if that's a Friday, whenever that is, I know that we're all willing to do it to help out the conference.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689522805816.jpeg" alt="Chris Klieman, Will Howard, Cooper Beebe, Daniel Green and Kobe Savage made the trip to Arlington, Texas, on Thursday for the 2023 Big 12 Football Media Days at AT&amp;T Stadium. Here is what Chris Klieman had to say courtesy of Kansas State Athletics." />
 <figcaption>Chris Klieman, Will Howard, Cooper Beebe, Daniel Green and Kobe Savage made the trip to Arlington, Texas, on Thursday for the 2023 Big 12 Football Media Days at AT&amp;T Stadium. Here is what Chris Klieman had to say courtesy of Kansas State Athletics.</figcaption>
 </figure>Opening Statement…“Thank you, and appreciate everybody having here and coming out to AT&amp;T Stadium. First thing I'd like to do is thank Commissioner Yormark for his vision, for his leadership. He's done an absolutely phenomenal job bringing energy to the Big 12 and being there for us as coaches, with a lot of messages back and forth, and without his leadership we wouldn't be in the place that we are right now. Thank you so much, Commissioner Yormark, and your staff for doing a phenomenal job keeping the Big 12 right where it needs to be, and that's at the top of the Power 5 leagues. So thank you for that.We're excited to be back. It's going into year five for me, and it's crazy to think how quickly this time has gone. And we have four student-athletes here with us, Cooper Beebe, Will Howard, Kobe Savage, and Daniel Green that kind of epitomize what our four- and five-year journey has been here at Kansas State. We're big believers in development and developing players, and I think you look at Cooper Beebe and you look at Will Howard, and that personifies what Kansas State football is, and that's a developmental program. We're excited to be back at AT&amp;T. We finished our season at the end of the regular season in the Big 12 Championship game here with a big win that probably gave us a little bit of cache as far as what we're doing is the right way, and our kids believe that what we are doing is the right way, and we're a playing led team, and our players are the reason why we got to AT&amp;T and had success last year.But it's a new year, and we've been talking about that since we got back in mid-January, that you need to stay humble. You need to eat crumbs. You need to stay hungry. What you did yesterday is great, but it pales in comparison to what you can do today. I'm excited about the challenge that we have this year, but I know that our guys are going to learn from the experiences they had last year and continue to fight through the adversity that we know we're going to have. We've got a tremendous league. We're adding four schools. We get two of those schools on our docket this year, and then we lose two schools in OU and Texas at the end of the year. But our league is as strong as it's ever been, and I'm excited to get the competition started.”Q. Coach, you mentioned the newcomers in this conference. You get one of them to open the league in UCF. What are your thoughts on the Knights, head coach Gus Malzahn, and having them in the conference?“Excited. I've gotten to know Gus a little bit. Have a tremendous amount of respect for him and what he's done in our profession. I talked to him a little bit at our Big 12 days down in Arizona, and they're going to be a really good football team coming into Manhattan. We're glad we have them in Manhattan and not down in Orlando. It's a great program that has traditionally been a really good program, and I'm excited about Gus and UCF joining our league.”Q. Winning the Big 12 Championship game last year and then seeing TCU win their playoff game, how would you describe the parity that's in the Big 12 as well as college football?“Well, there's tremendous parity in the Big 12. You saw that last year with the amount of teams that either won one-score games or knocked people off, and every week you had to have your A game or you were going to get beat. I think that's what college football is starting to become, as well. Recruiting is never ending. The transfer portal is never ending. So there's so many players switching teams, so you're always going to have increased parity. Some of the guys that maybe weren't playing as much for you are on another team. Sometimes even in the same league. That always is going to increase competition. College football is really healthy, and I'm excited about the direction it's going, especially once we get to the 12-team playoff.”Q. I sort of made a fool out of myself yesterday when I placed Deuce Vaughn at TCU. I misspoke. I actually meant Kendre Miller. You guys are losing production of Deuce Vaughn. Can you talk a little bit about how you replace a talent like that?“Well, you don't replace Deuce Vaughn, and if you want to come here on Sundays, he's going to be playing here every Sunday, and he's going to be having a heck of an NFL career and I love the kid because of his passion for football. Him allowing me to be in his life, what a great, great young man, a great football player but a better person, a better family. We probably aren't going to be able to do that with one guy. We're excited about our running back room. Coach Brian Anderson does a great job with those guys. DJ Giddens, I think is a rising star. He played sparingly behind Deuce because you didn't want to take Deuce off the field very often, but when he did he was very productive and had a couple of good games for us. We went out and got Treshaun Ward who was really productive at Florida State. And we didn't get to see a bunch of Treshaun during spring ball because he was recovering from an injury. He's full go now. I'm excited to see what a number of those guys can do, but those are two guys, DJ Giddens and Treshaun Ward, that we were believe can split some of the load, carry some of the load that Deuce has. And those guys just need to be themselves. All of our running backs in that room just need to be themselves. They don't need to be Deuce. There's only one of those guys, and everybody saw that in college football the last three years.”Q. Can you talk about Will Howard this year compared to where he was this time last year heading in?“Confidence, belief. Those are the two things I think of when I think of Will Howard. He's had an incredible journey at Kansas State, and he's had some ups and downs. But he's always weathered the storm. He's always bet on himself and believed in himself. Most importantly, I would tell you as we come into fall camp, the whole football team believes in Will Howard. The whole football team knows that you can win a Big 12 Championship with Will Howard at quarterback. I've just marveled at how he attacks his craft. He's always watching film. He's always breaking things down, he's always being a servant leader, which is very unselfish. He is meeting with tight ends, meeting with running backs, and just sharing his knowledge of football. And then he continues to work on his physical traits. He's leaner this year. He's stronger. I know that he's worked on some mechanical things. I think this is the best we're going to see -- we're going to see Will Howard's best year this year without question, and I thought the last half of the season last year he was probably the most improved player in all of college football, at least in the Big 12.”Q. The state of Iowa athletes are on a roll right now, your home state, with Ashley Joens winning the award yesterday, with Max [Duggan] winning the award yesterday, with Caitlin Clark doing what she's doing, and with yourself winning the championship last year. What is it about your upbringing and your grass-roots upbringing that paved the way for some of the success that you guys are having?“I appreciate that. I'm very close to the state of Iowa. My folks still live in Waterloo. My brother lives in Cedar Falls. I look at my parents' upbringing: Hard work, perseverance, never making excuses. I see that. I followed Iowa women's basketball. Caitlin Clark was a blast to watch. Some of my best friends are at Dowling. We've tried to do a good job in the state of Iowa. Two of our best football players are from the state of Iowa, Brendan Mott who's why Iowa City, and Ben Senate who's from Waterloo. We have to continue to recruit all the Midwest for sure. We've got to win in the state of Kansas, but we've branched out into Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, so on, so forth, Oklahoma. But just something about those hardworking kids that have great parental support and great backgrounds of being multi-sport athletes that we're always looking for.”Q. How important was it for you to sign that contract extension back in May, and what does that say about the future of wildcat football?“Well, I'm indebted to Gene Taylor for giving me an opportunity at North Dakota State to be a head coach, and then - not trying to win the press conference - but believing in what people can do, and he hired me at Kansas State, and he hired all of us at Kansas State. I really enjoy Manhattan. I think it's a great community. I think it's a great college town for sure. I see the excitement that is going on in Manhattan right now, and I'm just telling you, who you work for is really, really important to me. It's really important to me, and I've got a great job, but I'm surrounded by really good assistants. I'm surrounded by a great support staff. I've got a locker room full of guys that believe in each other, believe in us as coaches, and then I've got an athletic director that has our back. That made that really simple for me to sign and say this is where I want to be.”Q. You're obviously the defending Big 12 champion, so Kansas State is going to be a game that is circled on everyone's schedule. You're going to get everyone's best shot. How do you and your team approach going from being the hunters to the hunted?“I'm kind of excited actually, but in this league, I think everybody circles every game. I just don't -- I've never bought into one game is more important than another, because if you do, what are you going to tell your players the next week, that this one is not quite as important? But yeah, to be the hunted, the fact that we're the defending Big 12 champs means nothing when you go into that game. I mean, still, you've got to perform. Fortunately we've had past experiences from my previous school that we had to win a championship and then come back and follow it up with another championship. It's always staying hungry, always staying humble, and making sure that the guys focus on the task at hand, and each week in this league, you're going to get beat every week if you don't have your A game and if you don't have great focus and you don't have great preparation because the coaching is so good in this league, the teams are so good in this league. 1 through 14, anybody can beat anybody, and I really believe that.”Q. This year you guys went 66th in the transfer portal, just rankings of players coming in. Is that an effect of how great the roster is and building from within, or is it that there just weren't many needs to go out and get?“Well, the transfer portal has benefitted K-State, and once again, if somebody has a better opportunity or wants to move back closer to home, I'm all for it. I think kids need the opportunity. You only get home years to play this great game, so I'm fine with how the transfer portal is. That being said, whether it's Kade Warner, whether it's Julius Brents, whether it's Josh Hayes, whether it's Adrian Martinez, we've had really good success in the transfer portal. In the same respect, we haven't lost that many marquee guys. We've lost some depth, which is never great, but that's why you recruit freshmen to play, because freshmen now have to play because of the transfer portal. It's just something about the culture of us wanting to make sure we find the right fit, and we're always going to be a developmental school, and I'm a big believer in the more third-, fourth-, fifth-year guys you have, the better chance you're going to have to be successful, and this year we have got, I think, nine sixth-year guys, and I'm losing track to the math, do we still have one or two more years of the COVID year. I lose track of it. But we've got nine six-year guys that a lot of times those six-year guys say, I'm going to go see what else it out there. I'm going to go try this because I've done everything I can at school X, I'm going to go to school Y. But some of our guys, some of them were offensive linemen, said no. We love what we're doing here. We love the team we have, the players, the staff, that they wanted to stay right at Kansas State. We just haven't had the huge influx of numbers, and I hope that continues.”Q. Brett Yormark mentioned the idea of playing more games on Thursday and Friday. We know how much you guys like to get recruits at a game in Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Is that a concern they could be playing on the same night as you guys?“It is, but if Brett says that's the best thing for us to do, we're going to do it, because he's our leader and there's a reason why we're doing it that way. We have one on Friday night this year at Oklahoma State, which I'm going to be excited about. There's always going to be something going on. There's so many things anymore that for people to do, whether it's a Thursday, a Friday or a Saturday that if you put a really good product out there, people are going to come watch you play. But no, I think the more people and more audiences we can touch, and if that's a Thursday, if that's a Friday, whenever that is, I know that we're all willing to do it to help out the conference.”

What Chris Klieman said at Big 12 Media Days

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Luke Raley had a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 Saturday night to complete a doubleheader sweep.

Jose Siri hit a pair of solo homers as the Rays won the first game 6-1 to open the second half. AL East-leading Tampa Bay has won three in a row after a season-high, seven-game losing streak and at 60-35 became the first AL team to 60 wins.

“That was awesome to come out the first games out of break like that,” the Rays' Josh Lowe said. “To start the second half this way should build some momentum for us and carry us into the second half.”

Kansas City has lost eight of nine, dropping to 26-67 and falling 41 games under .500 for the first time since under 2019 at 59-103.. The Royals were swept in a doubleheader for the first time since May 25, 2019, against the New York Yankees after going 2-0-7 in their previous nine twinbills.

Dairon Blanco's RBI grounder in the fifth put the Royals ahead 2-1 in the nightcap. Lowe tied the score with a run-scoring triple in the seventh and Raley singled in the eighth against Carlos Hernández (0-5). Harold Ramírez added a sacrifice fly in the ninth against Dylan Coleman.

Colin Poche (7-2) threw a 1-2-3 seventh. Pete Fairbanks, pitching before about 50 family and friends, worked around Salvador Perez's leadoff single in the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.

“The Royals pitched us tough all day," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “It felt like we kind of just had to hang in there and have some timely at-bats late in the ballgame.”

Perez had four hits in the opener, one shy of his career high. His fifth-inning double made him the sixth Kansas City player with 500 extra-base hits.

Cole Ragans, a 25-year-old left-hander, made his Royals debut in the night game and allowed one run and four hits in five innings.

A day after the series opener was rained out, Tyler Glasnow (3-3) gave up one run and six hits over six innings and struck out six in the day game. Glasnow had been 0-3 in four starts since a June 14 win at Oakland.

“I felt good all game,” Glasnow said. “I kind of felt off to start, but as the innings went on I got a rhythm. It was a battle today and ended up being a good game.”

Siri homered in the third off Alec Marsh (0-3) and the ninth off Nick Wittgren for his seventh career multihomer game. Siri has 18 home runs this season.

“I know I've been striking out a lot, but everyone knows that. It felt good to connect on those two," Siri said.

Francisco Mejía gave the Rays a 2-0 lead in the fifth when he homered off Marsh, who allowed two runs and five hits in six innings with 11 strikeouts and one walk. The strikeouts were a high for a Royals pitcher in his first three big league starts.

“Getting strikeouts the last two games were difficult for me,” Marsh said. “I thought the attack mode was good all game. I think mindset wise I knew to keep attacking and knowing I needed to make a pitch with two strikes.”

Kansas City's Collin Snider opened the eighth with 13 consecutive balls. Raley followed with a two-run single and Josh Lowe hit a sacrifice fly.

Bobby Witt Jr. hit a 424-foot homer in the fifth.

RHP Zach Eflin (10-4, 3.25) starts Sunday's series finale for the Rays and RHP Bailey Singer (5-8, 5.80) for the Royals.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Luke Raley had a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 Saturday night to complete a doubleheader sweep.Jose Siri hit a pair of solo homers as the Rays won the first game 6-1 to open the second half. AL East-leading Tampa Bay has won three in a row after a season-high, seven-game losing streak and at 60-35 became the first AL team to 60 wins.“That was awesome to come out the first games out of break like that,” the Rays' Josh Lowe said. “To start the second half this way should build some momentum for us and carry us into the second half.”Kansas City has lost eight of nine, dropping to 26-67 and falling 41 games under .500 for the first time since under 2019 at 59-103.. The Royals were swept in a doubleheader for the first time since May 25, 2019, against the New York Yankees after going 2-0-7 in their previous nine twinbills.Dairon Blanco's RBI grounder in the fifth put the Royals ahead 2-1 in the nightcap. Lowe tied the score with a run-scoring triple in the seventh and Raley singled in the eighth against Carlos Hernández (0-5). Harold Ramírez added a sacrifice fly in the ninth against Dylan Coleman.Colin Poche (7-2) threw a 1-2-3 seventh. Pete Fairbanks, pitching before about 50 family and friends, worked around Salvador Perez's leadoff single in the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.“The Royals pitched us tough all day," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “It felt like we kind of just had to hang in there and have some timely at-bats late in the ballgame.”Perez had four hits in the opener, one shy of his career high. His fifth-inning double made him the sixth Kansas City player with 500 extra-base hits.Cole Ragans, a 25-year-old left-hander, made his Royals debut in the night game and allowed one run and four hits in five innings.A day after the series opener was rained out, Tyler Glasnow (3-3) gave up one run and six hits over six innings and struck out six in the day game. Glasnow had been 0-3 in four starts since a June 14 win at Oakland.“I felt good all game,” Glasnow said. “I kind of felt off to start, but as the innings went on I got a rhythm. It was a battle today and ended up being a good game.”Siri homered in the third off Alec Marsh (0-3) and the ninth off Nick Wittgren for his seventh career multihomer game. Siri has 18 home runs this season.“I know I've been striking out a lot, but everyone knows that. It felt good to connect on those two," Siri said.Francisco Mejía gave the Rays a 2-0 lead in the fifth when he homered off Marsh, who allowed two runs and five hits in six innings with 11 strikeouts and one walk. The strikeouts were a high for a Royals pitcher in his first three big league starts.“Getting strikeouts the last two games were difficult for me,” Marsh said. “I thought the attack mode was good all game. I think mindset wise I knew to keep attacking and knowing I needed to make a pitch with two strikes.”Kansas City's Collin Snider opened the eighth with 13 consecutive balls. Raley followed with a two-run single and Josh Lowe hit a sacrifice fly.Bobby Witt Jr. hit a 424-foot homer in the fifth.UP NEXTRHP Zach Eflin (10-4, 3.25) starts Sunday's series finale for the Rays and RHP Bailey Singer (5-8, 5.80) for the Royals.

Rays sweep Royals 6-1 and 4-2

The Great Bend Bat Cats scheduled Jayhawk Collegiate League game at Newton was postponed Friday night due to rain.&nbsp; No makeup date has been announced.

The Bat Cats begin a 3-game series at Derby Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. The two teams will play again on Sunday night in Derby before wrapping up their season series in Great Bend on Monday night in a 7:00 p.m. game at Al Burns Field.

The Great Bend Bat Cats scheduled Jayhawk Collegiate League game at Newton was postponed Friday night due to rain.&nbsp; No makeup date has been announced.The Bat Cats begin a 3-game series at Derby Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. The two teams will play again on Sunday night in Derby before wrapping up their season series in Great Bend on Monday night in a 7:00 p.m. game at Al Burns Field.

Bat Cats rained out at Newton

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The game scheduled for Friday night between the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals was postponed because of rain.

To make it up, the teams will play a split doubleheader Saturday, with the opener starting at 1:10 p.m. and the nightcap beginning at 6:10 p.m.

Tyler Glasnow had been set to pitch for the Rays against Alec Marsh. Both were pushed back to Saturday’s opener.

Glasnow hasn’t received a decision since June 14 when Tampa Bay beat Oakland.

Tampa Bay right-hander Zach Eflin is slated to start the second game against Brady Singer.

Both teams get an extra day of rest coming out of the All-Star break.

In their final game before the break, the Rays beat Atlanta to stop a seven-game losing streak. They enter the second half with the best record in the American League at 58-35.

Kansas City is last in the AL Central at 26-65.

The game was called off about three hours prior to the scheduled first pitch after thunderstorms pelted the Kansas City area.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The game scheduled for Friday night between the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals was postponed because of rain.To make it up, the teams will play a split doubleheader Saturday, with the opener starting at 1:10 p.m. and the nightcap beginning at 6:10 p.m.Tyler Glasnow had been set to pitch for the Rays against Alec Marsh. Both were pushed back to Saturday’s opener.Glasnow hasn’t received a decision since June 14 when Tampa Bay beat Oakland.Tampa Bay right-hander Zach Eflin is slated to start the second game against Brady Singer.Both teams get an extra day of rest coming out of the All-Star break.In their final game before the break, the Rays beat Atlanta to stop a seven-game losing streak. They enter the second half with the best record in the American League at 58-35.Kansas City is last in the AL Central at 26-65.The game was called off about three hours prior to the scheduled first pitch after thunderstorms pelted the Kansas City area.

Rays and Royals postponed by rain in 1st game back from All-Star break

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Gus Malzahn is back in a Power Five conference with UCF prepping for its first season in the Big 12, where Houston coach Dana Holgorsen is again overseeing a team's transition into the league like he did just more than a decade ago at West Virginia.

While BYU is giving up its football independence, coach Kalani Sitake has past experience with a program moving up to the highest level. And Scott Satterfield's first season with Cincinnati — and the Bearcats' debut in the Big 12 — comes after four seasons in the ACC as Louisville's coach.

They are the four new coaches, for the four new teams, in the expanded Big 12.

“It’s just the excitement of playing some of the best teams in college football week in and week out and that grind that goes with it,” former Auburn coach Malzahn said Thursday as the Big 12 wrapped up its football media days. “That’s what excites me. Just the profile of our program taking that next step.”

Malzahn is going into his third season at UCF, which followed his eight consecutive winning seasons in the SEC. The Tigers made it to the BCS championship game in his 2013 debut season, the year before the start of the four-team College Football Playoff.

UCF proclaimed itself national champion after going undefeated in 2017 and beating Malzahn's Auburn squad in the Peach Bowl while one-loss Alabama won the CFP title game. The Knights, who left the American Athletic Conference with Cincinnati and Houston, have gone 18-9 overall under Malzahn with a 2-3 record against Power Five teams.

The Big 12 media days were at AT&amp;T Stadium, the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and its conference championship game. It is also where two seasons ago Cincinnati lost to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl after becoming the first Group of Five team to make the four-team CFP.

“I do think all four schools will be competitive in this league,” Satterfield said. “The thing that as a newcomer into the league, you don’t know the makeup of the teams. We haven’t played in this league. We haven’t played the teams that are in this league, so you don’t really understand the ins and outs of the teams that we’re getting ready to play.”

With the four additions coming a year before Oklahoma and Texas leave for the SEC, the Big 12 will have 14 teams this season. The conference now spreads over three time zones with schools from eight different states, stretching from Utah to West Virginia to Florida.

This is the first change in the league's makeup since 2012, when West Virginia and TCU were added to then keep the Big 12 at 10 teams.

“Well, it’s exciting to be the new guy again,” said Holgorsen, who was with WVU for its first seven Big 12 seasons before going to Houston. "The last four years have been a little different for me, being in the American conference, and it really makes you appreciate a conference like the Big 12 by now being back. This thing goes so many different directions. The University of Houston has been looking forward to this day for a long, long time.”

Houston wasn't part of the original 12-team Big 12 lineup when the league began play in 1996 after the members of the former Big Eight Conference joined with half of the defunct Southwest Conference. The Cougars went from the SWC to Conference USA and then the American in 2013.

Sitake, a former BYU fullback going into his eighth season as head coach of his alma mater, was on Kyle Whittingham's staff at Utah when the Utes went from the Mountain West to the Pac-12. Utah has had only one losing season since, and is coming off consecutive 10-win seasons that ended in the Rose Bowl.

“This is a lot of fun. Being an independent, I wasn’t able to experience this as a head coach,” Sitake said. “This has been been a great dream for me, so please don't wake me up.”

The Cougars were national champions under coach LaVell Edwards after going undefeated in 1984. They were in the WAC then, moved to the Mountain West in 1999 and became an FBS independent in 2011.

“This isn’t going to be easy, and we know that,” Sitake said. “Now that we’re here, there’s a high sense of urgency for us to get ready to go, and I feel really good about the progress that we’ve made as a team in the last couple years, and there’s some really cool lessons that we’ve been able to learn about our skills but also the deficiencies that we probably have meeting some of those Power Five teams that we’ve played in the past five years.”

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Gus Malzahn is back in a Power Five conference with UCF prepping for its first season in the Big 12, where Houston coach Dana Holgorsen is again overseeing a team's transition into the league like he did just more than a decade ago at West Virginia.While BYU is giving up its football independence, coach Kalani Sitake has past experience with a program moving up to the highest level. And Scott Satterfield's first season with Cincinnati — and the Bearcats' debut in the Big 12 — comes after four seasons in the ACC as Louisville's coach.They are the four new coaches, for the four new teams, in the expanded Big 12.“It’s just the excitement of playing some of the best teams in college football week in and week out and that grind that goes with it,” former Auburn coach Malzahn said Thursday as the Big 12 wrapped up its football media days. “That’s what excites me. Just the profile of our program taking that next step.”Malzahn is going into his third season at UCF, which followed his eight consecutive winning seasons in the SEC. The Tigers made it to the BCS championship game in his 2013 debut season, the year before the start of the four-team College Football Playoff.UCF proclaimed itself national champion after going undefeated in 2017 and beating Malzahn's Auburn squad in the Peach Bowl while one-loss Alabama won the CFP title game. The Knights, who left the American Athletic Conference with Cincinnati and Houston, have gone 18-9 overall under Malzahn with a 2-3 record against Power Five teams.The Big 12 media days were at AT&amp;T Stadium, the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and its conference championship game. It is also where two seasons ago Cincinnati lost to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl after becoming the first Group of Five team to make the four-team CFP.“I do think all four schools will be competitive in this league,” Satterfield said. “The thing that as a newcomer into the league, you don’t know the makeup of the teams. We haven’t played in this league. We haven’t played the teams that are in this league, so you don’t really understand the ins and outs of the teams that we’re getting ready to play.”With the four additions coming a year before Oklahoma and Texas leave for the SEC, the Big 12 will have 14 teams this season. The conference now spreads over three time zones with schools from eight different states, stretching from Utah to West Virginia to Florida.This is the first change in the league's makeup since 2012, when West Virginia and TCU were added to then keep the Big 12 at 10 teams.“Well, it’s exciting to be the new guy again,” said Holgorsen, who was with WVU for its first seven Big 12 seasons before going to Houston. "The last four years have been a little different for me, being in the American conference, and it really makes you appreciate a conference like the Big 12 by now being back. This thing goes so many different directions. The University of Houston has been looking forward to this day for a long, long time.”Houston wasn't part of the original 12-team Big 12 lineup when the league began play in 1996 after the members of the former Big Eight Conference joined with half of the defunct Southwest Conference. The Cougars went from the SWC to Conference USA and then the American in 2013.Sitake, a former BYU fullback going into his eighth season as head coach of his alma mater, was on Kyle Whittingham's staff at Utah when the Utes went from the Mountain West to the Pac-12. Utah has had only one losing season since, and is coming off consecutive 10-win seasons that ended in the Rose Bowl.“This is a lot of fun. Being an independent, I wasn’t able to experience this as a head coach,” Sitake said. “This has been been a great dream for me, so please don't wake me up.”The Cougars were national champions under coach LaVell Edwards after going undefeated in 1984. They were in the WAC then, moved to the Mountain West in 1999 and became an FBS independent in 2011.“This isn’t going to be easy, and we know that,” Sitake said. “Now that we’re here, there’s a high sense of urgency for us to get ready to go, and I feel really good about the progress that we’ve made as a team in the last couple years, and there’s some really cool lessons that we’ve been able to learn about our skills but also the deficiencies that we probably have meeting some of those Power Five teams that we’ve played in the past five years.”

Big 12 brings Malzahn and Holgorsen back into Power Five

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — While TCU went to the national championship game last season, Kansas State is the defending Big 12 champion.

“A big win that probably gave us a little bit of cache as far as what we’re doing is the right way, and our kids believe that what we are doing is the right way," coach Chris Klieman said Thursday during Big 12 media days at AT&amp;T Stadium, where seven months earlier the Wildcats beat TCU in the Big 12 title game.

TCU had the Big 12's first undefeated regular season since 2009 before that overtime loss to the Wildcats. The Horned Frogs still got in the four-time College Football Playoff, beating Michigan in the semifinal game before losing to Georgia.

Kansas State is going into its fifth season under Klieman after his championship-filled time at FCS power North Dakota State.

“It’s a new year, and we’ve been talking about that since we got back in mid-January, that you need to stay humble. You need to eat crumbs. You need to stay hungry,” Klieman said. “What you did yesterday is great, but it pales in comparison to what you can do today.”

West Virginia coach Neal Brown was sitting on a beach last week when he got a text message that the Mountaineers were picked to finish last in the 14-team Big 12.

“I made the mistake of looking at it. From that point on, my vacation was over,” Brown said. “I went into football mode.”

The Mountaineers are 22-25 under Brown, their worst four-year stretch since winning only 17 games from 1976-79, but new athletic director Wren Baker opted against making a coaching change. They were 5-7 last season after winning two of their last three games.

Brown said he was upset about the media poll, something he said he shared with his team in “more colorful terms” earlier this week.

“Looking forward to proving everybody wrong on that front,” he said. “We won’t finish there.”

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said the school is still waiting for the results of an investigation into some athletes being suspected of wagering on sports in violation of NCAA rules.

“Right now for us, that investigation is ongoing,” Campbell said. “Just continues to not really have a lot of clarity to it, but I think we’re getting closer to getting clarity.”

The University of Iowa announced in May that 26 athletes across five sports were suspected of wagering on sports in violation of NCAA rules, and more than 100 people have been linked to an investigation.

Iowa State also acknowledged that 15 of its athletes across three sports, including football, were suspected of violating gambling rules.

“What I would just say for any of our young men that either are or aren’t involved in this is it’s a great learning lesson,” said Campbell, who said he's not part of the investigative process. “Part of what I love about teaching is you’re teaching 18- to 22-year-old young men. There’s rules and regulations.”

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables was asked how he has evolved after going 6-7 in his debut as the coach of the Sooners, who had their first losing season since 1998.

“You used the word evolve; that’s what you always do,” Venables responded. “Even when you go 14-1 or 15-0 or 13-0. ... Even through success, you’re always looking at ways to improve and get better. Having a never-satisfied attitude is never going to change for me.”

Venables was part of two national championships as Clemson's defensive coordinator before returning to Norman as head coach. He was on Bob Stoops staff at Oklahoma from 1999-2011 that included a national title in 2000.

“I’ve got good revisionist memory,” Venables said of Stoops' undefeated championship in his second season. “I remember what that year was like.”

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — While TCU went to the national championship game last season, Kansas State is the defending Big 12 champion.“A big win that probably gave us a little bit of cache as far as what we’re doing is the right way, and our kids believe that what we are doing is the right way," coach Chris Klieman said Thursday during Big 12 media days at AT&amp;T Stadium, where seven months earlier the Wildcats beat TCU in the Big 12 title game.TCU had the Big 12's first undefeated regular season since 2009 before that overtime loss to the Wildcats. The Horned Frogs still got in the four-time College Football Playoff, beating Michigan in the semifinal game before losing to Georgia.Kansas State is going into its fifth season under Klieman after his championship-filled time at FCS power North Dakota State.“It’s a new year, and we’ve been talking about that since we got back in mid-January, that you need to stay humble. You need to eat crumbs. You need to stay hungry,” Klieman said. “What you did yesterday is great, but it pales in comparison to what you can do today.”VACATION OVERWest Virginia coach Neal Brown was sitting on a beach last week when he got a text message that the Mountaineers were picked to finish last in the 14-team Big 12.“I made the mistake of looking at it. From that point on, my vacation was over,” Brown said. “I went into football mode.”The Mountaineers are 22-25 under Brown, their worst four-year stretch since winning only 17 games from 1976-79, but new athletic director Wren Baker opted against making a coaching change. They were 5-7 last season after winning two of their last three games.Brown said he was upset about the media poll, something he said he shared with his team in “more colorful terms” earlier this week.“Looking forward to proving everybody wrong on that front,” he said. “We won’t finish there.”ONGOING INVESTIGATIONIowa State coach Matt Campbell said the school is still waiting for the results of an investigation into some athletes being suspected of wagering on sports in violation of NCAA rules.“Right now for us, that investigation is ongoing,” Campbell said. “Just continues to not really have a lot of clarity to it, but I think we’re getting closer to getting clarity.”The University of Iowa announced in May that 26 athletes across five sports were suspected of wagering on sports in violation of NCAA rules, and more than 100 people have been linked to an investigation.Iowa State also acknowledged that 15 of its athletes across three sports, including football, were suspected of violating gambling rules.“What I would just say for any of our young men that either are or aren’t involved in this is it’s a great learning lesson,” said Campbell, who said he's not part of the investigative process. “Part of what I love about teaching is you’re teaching 18- to 22-year-old young men. There’s rules and regulations.”ALWAYS EVOLVINGOklahoma coach Brent Venables was asked how he has evolved after going 6-7 in his debut as the coach of the Sooners, who had their first losing season since 1998.“You used the word evolve; that’s what you always do,” Venables responded. “Even when you go 14-1 or 15-0 or 13-0. ... Even through success, you’re always looking at ways to improve and get better. Having a never-satisfied attitude is never going to change for me.”Venables was part of two national championships as Clemson's defensive coordinator before returning to Norman as head coach. He was on Bob Stoops staff at Oklahoma from 1999-2011 that included a national title in 2000.“I’ve got good revisionist memory,” Venables said of Stoops' undefeated championship in his second season. “I remember what that year was like.”

Big 12 Notebook: Kansas State defending champ while West Virginia picked at bottom

The Kansas City
Royals begin a three-game series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays
on Friday.

Tampa Bay Rays
(58-35, first in the AL East) vs. Kansas City Royals (26-65, fifth in
the AL Central)

Kansas City,
Missouri; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING
PROBABLES: Rays: Tyler Glasnow (2-3, 4.10 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 64
strikeouts); Royals: Alec Marsh (0-2, 7.00 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 10
strikeouts)

FANDUEL
SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Rays -303, Royals +244; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE:
The Kansas City Royals host the Tampa Bay Rays to start a three-game
series.

Kansas City is 13-31
at home and 26-65 overall. The Royals are 16-10 in games when they
scored five or more runs.

Tampa Bay has gone
23-20 on the road and 58-35 overall. The Rays have the fourth-best
team ERA in the majors at 3.69.

The teams meet
Friday for the fifth time this season. The season series is tied 2-2.

TOP PERFORMERS:
Maikel Garcia has 11 doubles, a triple, three home runs and 22 RBI
for the Royals. Bobby Witt Jr. is 15-for-39 with three doubles, a
triple and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Wander Franco has 21
doubles, four triples and 11 home runs for the Rays. Yandy Diaz is
12-for-36 with two doubles, a home run and five RBI over the last 10
games.

Royals: 3-7,
.241 batting average, 5.57 ERA, outscored by 20 runs

Rays: 3-7,
.223 batting average, 4.20 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs

Royals:
Edward Olivares: 10-Day IL (oblique), Zack Greinke: 15-Day IL
(shoulder), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Matt Beaty: 7-Day IL
(concussion), Vinnie Pasquantino: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Josh
Staumont: 15-Day IL (neck), Brad Keller: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Kris
Bubic: 60-Day IL (flexor), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel
Zerpa: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Rays: Tyler
Glasnow: day-to-day (cramping), Shane McClanahan: 15-Day IL (back),
Josh Fleming: 60-Day IL (elbow), Drew Rasmussen: 60-Day IL (flexor),
Garrett Cleavinger: 60-Day IL (knee), Jeffrey Springs: 60-Day IL
(elbow), Shane Baz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Andrew Kittredge: 60-Day IL
(elbow)

The Kansas City
Royals begin a three-game series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays
on Friday.Tampa Bay Rays
(58-35, first in the AL East) vs. Kansas City Royals (26-65, fifth in
the AL Central)Kansas City,
Missouri; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDTPITCHING
PROBABLES: Rays: Tyler Glasnow (2-3, 4.10 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 64
strikeouts); Royals: Alec Marsh (0-2, 7.00 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 10
strikeouts)FANDUEL
SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Rays -303, Royals +244; over/under is 9 runsBOTTOM LINE:
The Kansas City Royals host the Tampa Bay Rays to start a three-game
series.Kansas City is 13-31
at home and 26-65 overall. The Royals are 16-10 in games when they
scored five or more runs.Tampa Bay has gone
23-20 on the road and 58-35 overall. The Rays have the fourth-best
team ERA in the majors at 3.69.The teams meet
Friday for the fifth time this season. The season series is tied 2-2.TOP PERFORMERS:
Maikel Garcia has 11 doubles, a triple, three home runs and 22 RBI
for the Royals. Bobby Witt Jr. is 15-for-39 with three doubles, a
triple and two home runs over the last 10 games.Wander Franco has 21
doubles, four triples and 11 home runs for the Rays. Yandy Diaz is
12-for-36 with two doubles, a home run and five RBI over the last 10
games.LAST 10 GAMES: 
Royals: 3-7,
.241 batting average, 5.57 ERA, outscored by 20 runsRays: 3-7,
.223 batting average, 4.20 ERA, outscored opponents by two runsINJURIES: 
Royals:
Edward Olivares: 10-Day IL (oblique), Zack Greinke: 15-Day IL
(shoulder), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Matt Beaty: 7-Day IL
(concussion), Vinnie Pasquantino: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Josh
Staumont: 15-Day IL (neck), Brad Keller: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Kris
Bubic: 60-Day IL (flexor), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel
Zerpa: 60-Day IL (shoulder)Rays: Tyler
Glasnow: day-to-day (cramping), Shane McClanahan: 15-Day IL (back),
Josh Fleming: 60-Day IL (elbow), Drew Rasmussen: 60-Day IL (flexor),
Garrett Cleavinger: 60-Day IL (knee), Jeffrey Springs: 60-Day IL
(elbow), Shane Baz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Andrew Kittredge: 60-Day IL
(elbow)

Rays visit the Royals to start 3-game series

The Barton Community College Booster Club 11th Annual Golf Tournament is scheduled for Aug. 4 at Lake Barton Golf Club.

The day will begin with announcements at 12:45 p.m. and a 1 p.m. shotgun start. The tournament will include hole prizes, silent auction, raffle and barbeque. The cost is $125 per person with a four-person team. The Booster Club is also seeking $100 hole sponsorships.

The proceeds will benefit Cougar student athletes.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689196690347.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The Barton Community College Booster Club 11th Annual Golf Tournament is scheduled for Aug. 4 at Lake Barton Golf Club.The day will begin with announcements at 12:45 p.m. and a 1 p.m. shotgun start. The tournament will include hole prizes, silent auction, raffle and barbeque. The cost is $125 per person with a four-person team. The Booster Club is also seeking $100 hole sponsorships.The proceeds will benefit Cougar student athletes.Find out more at <a href="https://www.bartonsports.com/information/boosterclub/2324/2023_Cougar_Open.pdf">bartonsports.com</a>.